The Pirate Fairy Filmmakers Interview
For The Pirate Fairy filmmakers interview we got the chance to meet with Director Peggy Holmes and Producer Jenni Magee-Cook at the DisneyToon Studios. First of all, I love pirate movies and fairy movies so the combination of the two made me so excited! I just wanted to squeal! First we were able to screen the film that will be coming out on DVD April 1st, 2014. Being able to screen the film was amazing and I will be posting The Pirate Fairy review very soon!
Casting The Pirate Fairy
First of all, we were very excited to learn about the casting of the film. For the Fairies Franchise series, the main girls Tinker Bell, Silvermist, Rosetta, Iridessa, Fawn and Vidia have all been cast since the beginning. For The Pirate Fairy they added the gorgeous Christina Hendricks (voice of Zarina), who I adore from Mad Men, and Tom Hiddleston (voice of James). They were very excited to work with them since they were their first choices for the voices of the characters.
We were excited to learn more about Christina Hendricks’ character Zarina who is the main character in the film. The filmmakers said they really wanted her to be like-able yet powerful. She is a seven inch fairy fighting pirates so she’s got to be vulnerable and sweet out front but tough when she’s a pirate. Christina Hendricks is amazing. Just like her character from Mad Men we knew she could have that sharp tone- tough wit, but she has such a sensitive soft side to her also. They said Christina was very passionate and really excited by coming in and doing a fairy especially since she is a huge Disney fanatic. And so… she was going to be a fairy. Christina her and her husband go to Disneyland I guess all the time. And they don’t have kids and then so they love it. And so to become a fairy and part of the Disney legend, she was just thrilled to do and you can see that on the screen what she brought.
Tom Hiddleston was just amazing for them to get as the voice of James. One of the great things about Tom is that he’s a triple threat. He can sing, dance and act. You would probably most recognize him as Loki in the Thor movies. You’ll also see him Muppets Most Wanted as The Great Escapo! Tom has a very extensive education background at RADA. The filmmakers said that Tom really understood that Hook is a bigger than life character. Tom listened to the original book Hans Conried and understood very clearly that was a big performance but believable for the day. It was a completely believable villain for the day.
The filmmakers showed us a behind the scenes of Tom recording one of the songs and talking about the character. It was an actual session, not a mockup. The filmmakers laughed a bit when they talked about how starched Tom’s shirt was when he came in to record. The shirt was so starched that it made a bit of a noise every time he moved so he had to slip on a DisneyToons t-shirt. So that’s a little fun fact.
The filmmakers said they made the film incredibly fast… in only fifteen months. Peggy had a very clear idea for the emotional track she wanted to take Zarina on. The said having the clear story really helps unfold everything else. It helps drive your character design, your visual development because everything is about telling and supporting that story.
Jenni said that Jim Cummings played two of the pirates. He plays Oppenheimer, the little old guy and Quart, the big round guy. Jim is a classic Disney voiceover… actor. They said he is so amazing because he’s part of Disney history If closely start watching credits, he’s in everything. Jim also sang. All the guys sang all their own stuff.
Costumes and Characters – Pirate and Fairy Fashions
The fairy films take place at the turn of the century, so they sent the costume designer their research. He instantly began sketching while they were on the phone with him. Peggy and Jenni had done research on different things that can be part of Zarina’s costume like her sword is a hatpin and her belt is a watchband.
Peggy and Jenni had certain ideas about Zarina’s costume. They wanted her to have long boots, some sort of classic pirate thing, but definitely feel hip and contemporary. This is the first time that one of their fairy costumes could be created from man-made material. They are all normally made with organic materials. Nature. It was a real opening for them creatively to be able to move into that and figure out. They also had to bridge pixie hollow to Neverland and they wanted Zarina to come from Pixie Hollow so she had to look like she fit in both places but yet gets to Neverland, works with pirates, and creates a costume that it still somehow put all the girls together. They wanted you to see how there’s a relation there.
My absolutely favorite character in the film was Crocky, the crocodile. Here’s some amazing sketches below of sweet little Crocky! I’ll discuss him more in my review of the film so stay tuned!
Will there be a spinoff fairy film from The Pirate Fairy?
We were very excited to learn the filmmakers are in production on the next fairy film but that is all they could tell us. Very excited to see which direction the fairies will take us next!
Is The Pirate Fairy meant for boys and girls?
Having a nine year old son, I was excited to see that pirates were brought into this fairy film. The filmmakers said the film is doing really well with boys. Jenni said her thirteen year old son even loves the film! I’ll let you know what my son thought of the film in my review!
Fun Facts
Jenni said they put a lot of little, little things in the film that weren’t meant to be obvious from Peter Pan. One thing is the clock. The tick, the, the tick tocks. That sound of the clock tick tocking was pulled from the original Peter Pan archives and they reused the actual sounds. Peggy said that her son’s initials are actually on the clock too! It just didn’t have a lot of detail so they added some. Under the cigar box where Zarina is filtering the blue dust, Peggy’s daughter’s name is on there too.
The Pirate Fairy is being shown in theatres internationally in forty-two markets and the El Capitan theatre in Hollywood.
The Pirate Fairy comes out on DVD April 1, 2014! Reserve your copy today and buy The Pirate Fairy on DVD!
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